01 July, 2017

China furious at Trump’s $1.4bn Taiwan arms deal

The Chinese people “have every
right to be outraged” by the new $1.4 billion US arms deal with
Taiwan, Beijing has said, arguing that the sale means the Trump
administration is contradicting earlier statements on maintaining
peace in the region.

Washington has made the “wrong
decision to sell arms to Taiwan in disregard of China's strong
representations,” reads a statement released on Friday by the
Chinese embassy in the US.

On top of violating several joint
communiques, the deal “grossly interferes [in] China's domestic
affairs, jeopardizes China's sovereign and security interest and
undermines China's efforts to realize national unification,” the
embassy says. “The Chinese government and Chinese people have every
right to be outraged,” it adds.

The weapons sale, announced by
Washington on Thursday, requires congressional approval, and comes
two years after President Barack Obama announced a $1.83 billion arms
sale to Taiwan.

The current arms deal includes
maintenance support for early-warning radar, high-speed
anti-radiation missiles, torpedoes and missile components. Previous
US arms packages also included two navy frigates as well as anti-tank
missiles and amphibious attack vehicles.